-=- The Next Day -=-

Trillia had only woken in a panic twice, and only once did she wake with a scream. There had to be something in the constant healing magic that had kept the nightmares away because she wasn't suffering from them during her healing process. Trillia stretched slowly, making sure not to do anything too sudden. Her brain told her to beware of pain, even if the shamans had told her she was fine now.

Blinking the sleep from her eyes for a few minutes after her stretch, she took in her surroundings. Tormash's tent wasn't the standard layout for warriors or scouts. There were books stacked on neatly made shelves. The ground inside wasn't packed dirt. It felt like some sort of worked stone. Trillia didn't know what kind.

A thought occurred. Staring intently at the stone, she spoke the words in her mind.

'[Basic Scan]'

[Granite] [Modified]

So it was granite. It was a word the minotaurs used often. Evidently it was a hard stone, something good for buildings and roads. Trillia didn't quite understand that. All stone was hard, at least to her. She figured it had to be a scale of some kind. Maybe some stone was harder than others. With granite being really strong. She briefly wondered what the soft stone would be, what it might feel like. Realization hit that she was getting distracted again. A problem she often had. Her eyes went back to scanning the room.

There were several large chests, some made of wood, some made of stone. A few were made of intricately carved and pieced-together Lovax shells. Trillia stood. The tent was easily twenty-five feet from any two ends. A few curtains were hung at various places, perhaps to give some privacy or keep areas separate. One of the closed curtains opened, and Ba'Shoon stood there, a smile on her face.

The woman wasn't without clothes, as she had been last night. The dress she wore was covered in delicately sewn runes. The fabric itself was a deep, rich red. She had heard the color described before as mahogany. The runes were a teal color, the same as her skin. Various line work that seemed to hug the woman's curves were a rich golden color, the same color as Ba'Shoon's eyes. Trillia found herself staring at the woman for a long time. The woman's voice shook her from her rude behavior.

"Is everything ok, Trilia?"

The little girl nodded. A dozen questions flew into her mind all at once, as they always did.

"Where is brother?"

Ba'Shoon kneeled next to her, and the dress moved....weirdly. As if it wasn't all there or it didn't need to stretch. Trillia found herself staring at the dress once more, unable to meet the woman's eyes.

"He is out doing scout business for a few hours and will return before long. I can make you something to eat if you're hungry. There is also leftover soup from this morning. Do you like my dress?"

Ba'Shoon grinned as she saw Trillia's fingers absent-mindedly moving to touch the runes. The woman stood once more and pointed out a series of runes on the left side of the dress.

"These let me control the dress to some extent. I can make a slit in the side if I need to be faster, more active, or fight in it. I can also make it loose or shorten the skirt."

Pointing to a few other runes now.

"These slowly mend the dress over time, taking either the ambient mana in the air, or I can fuel it with my own mana. These ones let me change the color."

There were so many utility runes. The complexity of the dress blew Trillia's mind. It was probably the most elaborate piece of enchanted gear she had seen up close. Maybe her mother's armor was more enchanted, but if so, all the runes were hidden. There were also dozens of runes to make the dress more resilient. Trillia felt that the dress was more durable than most non-magical armor she had seen.

"Where did you get this? It's so pretty. All the runes are so useful."

Ba'Shoon's grin grew a little wider, motioning for Trillia to follow. She quickly got the girl a small bowl of soup. Before going back into the curtained area, she had stepped out of. Trillia froze when she stepped inside. This area was easily as big as the rest of the tent. She ever so slowly stepped back out. From the outside of this little 'room,' it should have only been a half dozen feet. But stepping inside, it was like another tent entirely.

Ba'Shoon's voice cured her confusion.

"The answer to my workshop, as well as my dress, is the same. I'm a rather gifted enchantress and seamstress. It's one of the reasons Tormash hasn't introduced me to your mother yet, as his mate. Your mother...."

The woman hesitated. Trillia knew the look and tone though. Very, very few orcs ever spoke against Amara. Amara had taken the orcs from wandering bands of savages and pillagers and united them as skilled hunters and guides for the Shattered Plains. From what Trillia had heard, they were still considered 'savage' by most other races because of their own practices. But nothing like they had been. So it was difficult for orcs to speak against Amara because she had done so much for them.

Trillia grabbed Ba'Shoon's hand with both of her own, squeezing it gently.

"I can tell you like Tormash. I can tell you respect Mom. You don't have to hide stuff from me. There are a lot of orcs who aren't happy we are staying in one place right now. They don't tell Mom because they know she knows best. But it is still a worry. If you are worried, you should be honest about it. Dad has something he likes to say. Maybe it will help you as well."

Trillia let go of Ba'Shoon's hand, getting into her best papa stance, trying to make her voice as deep as possible - mostly failing miserably, much to Ba'Shoon's amusement.

"Trillia. A wise man once told me. Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create."

Trillia relaxed the stance, a large smile on her face.

"Then he'd ruffle my hair and we would eat."

Almost as if on cue, she took a bite out of her soup, which she had switched to holding precariously in one hand while she was doing her impression. Ba'Shoon smiled warmly at the girl, moving to sit on a bench in her workshop, patting the seat next to her. Trillia tentatively joined her, still leery of the room itself.

"Your father is a wise man himself. That's very good advice."

Trillia gently set her bowl next to her. Eyes now fixed on the workbench, she had to stand to see all of the table. There were dozens of gleaming tools. A bunch of oddly shaped glass circles held in place by metal bands. Tormash's axe lay on the workbench. Ba'Shoon saw Trillia's little eyes wandering all over everything.

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"A lot of this stuff, is my own creations. I. "

The woman paused again, trying to dance around her words or memories.

"I had the opportunity in life to work under many different masters. I learned a lot from those experiences. I'm six years older than Tormash. I know that as the Chieftain's son, and a very powerful warrior, he could choose any number of mates. But he chose me. I feel...I feel like I owe him something? Like I need to do and be better."

Trillia thought that was silly. So silly in fact she couldn't stop her mouth from spitting out words.

"That's dumb. You're way prettier than most other women in the camp. You're also really tall, and you look strong. Like Mama. Tormash pities weak people because life is harder for them. It's why he always teaches me how to be strong so that I can take care of myself. I think he likes you because you're strong and pretty. Besides, if you're right. And he could choose anyone. He chose you. You should trust him."

Ba'Shoon sat there, seeming a bit shocked. After a few minutes of Trillia looking at various equipment, Ba'Shoon spoke once more, breaking the silence.

"You should keep listening to Tormash and your parents. You're rather smart for your age. Maybe you are right. Maybe I don't need to do or be better. I still want to be better for him though. So I'll keep improving."

Trillia offered her a smile, now standing next to the seated woman. The were finally eye to eye.

"So, how did you get so good at enchanting? Grand Alchemist Mort and Elder Lurog told me I could learn, but it would take many, many years."

"Well. It's because of how your tribe views classes. Somewhat rightfully so. I've noticed that no one here utilizes non-combat classes. Everyone who cooks just has a really high general skill. Your herbalists aren't actually utilizing herbalist or druidic classes. Everyone is some variation of warrior or shaman."

That confused Trillia a bit. From her previous conversations, she was under the impression cooking wasn't a class. In fact, it had been a rather big discussion with her parents and King Cordaos.

"So there is a class called [Cook]?"

Ba'Shoon tapped her fingers on the table.

"Sort of? Sorry. I mean, there is. They make the cooking skill, a class skill. Their cooking gives various buffs, and they can make otherwise inedible food edible. The problem is most classes like that are extremely weak in combat. Many of them are completely incapable. In the Shattered Plains and orc society, someone who is only a cook would probably die very easily."

Trillia stood there for a long time. Thinking back on the conversation with her parents. In their defense, they had said that Cordaos' cooking wasn't a class. They never strictly lied to her or told her there were no such classes. Trillia understood why they didn't want her to take such a class as well. She was already weaker than most orcs. If she took a weak class, she'd just be a burden and die.

"Is that the problem you have with mother?"

Ba'Shoon nodded.

"It is. Your mother is a great Chieftain. She has changed the world's views on all orcs. The roving bands of pillagers and murderers are now seen as wild, uncivilized, and not the norm. While the more peaceful and reasonable tribes found here, in the Shattered Plains, are seen as the norm. But your mother has very strict views on classes. Perhaps because she's had to spend so much of her life fighting, she doesn't want her people to be seen as weak or taken advantage of."

Trillia sat down as she listened to the woman. Finishing her soup. Once she was done, she turned her quizzical face towards the Shaman.

"Why don't people just take one non-combat class, early on? This way they get something useful, then they can do just combat."

"That's what I did. That's what Tormash is doing now. The problem is that it still makes you susceptible to being attacked and killed while you are leveling a non-combat weak class. Most classes derived from general skills, such as cook or tailor, don't give you stats when you level. So your species level rises, but you don't have extra stats to offset the increased difficulty in leveling."

Trillia was now wondering what the classes of the Alchemists were in the minotaur camp or the herbalists and shamans in her own camp. Was that just a title and not their class? If so, what were their actual classes? More and more questions filled her little brain. The upside is the trauma of the fight wasn't resting on her shoulders at the moment. The downside is a headache was fast approaching.

"Can you teach me how to enchant like you do?"

Ba'Shoon immediately shook her head.

"I'm afraid not. Getting your enchanting to the point mine is at, utilizing only a general skill and not an enchanting class, would take years. Mort and Lurog are correct in that assumption you'd have to take a non-combat class to do the same sort of enchanting that I do. I can help you learn how to enchant. From what I've heard of your fight. I also think I can help you improve your combat skills. Tormash and I spoke about it this morning, and we have some ideas we'd like to help you with. If you're willing to learn from us."

Trillia nodded excitedly, she liked learning, sometimes it gave her a headache, but the more she knew, the harder it was to be useless.

The two sat there, chatting about runes. What they did, why Ba'Shoon chose to arrange them in the manner she did etc. A few hours later, the two heard movement in the main part of the tent, and both exited the workshop area to greet Tormash. Ba'Shoon offered him a smile as she moved up and gave him a kiss. Which he returned happily. Tormash now turned to Trillia.

"I let Mom and Dad know you were staying with us for a little while. I also let your friend Princess Amelia know. I think her father has her busy for the next few days. I also took some time to set up a little area to do some rune training with you. Once you're feeling up to it, of course."

Trillia smiled and nodded.

"I'm ready to learn whenever! I want to be a good enchanter like Ba'Shoon. This way I can have a small tent in the camp, but the inside is huge! Plus, maybe I can convince Mom to let me have a cooking class as well. Gosh, I also need to learn music. I have so many things I want to take as a class. How do you decide?"

Tormash laughed at that, giving Ba'Shoon another kiss on the cheek before he moved over and patted Trillia on the head, grabbing a few things from chests as he prepared them to move out to do some training with her.

"Well, my first class was a [Blood Berserker]. It's uhhh. Hmmm. It's a berserker that can also manipulate the blood around me. It was very useful for fighting. My second class was [Scout]. A class focused on speed, maneuverability, and surviving in the wilds. Hence why I'm one of the Scout Masters now. After that though, I'll be honest. I just took stuff that seemed to synergize well with my primary class. My secondary class, I started going down a route I found called the [Naturalist]."

"The [Naturalist] line of classes specialize in studying creatures, nature that sort of thing. Here. "

Digging around in a pouch at his side for a moment before pulling out a leather tome. The thing should not have been able to fit into that bag. Trillia had seen storage items before, but the ones Tormash and Ba'Shoon used were quite fancy. Trillia tried to think about what her mother used to store all her weapons but had never seen any sort of bag or seen her mother reach into one. Trillia took the book carefully in her hands. The leather had been dyed the same dark green as Tormash's eyes. Golden thread sewn into the binding.

She opened the cover. Her eyes opened wide as the pictures inside actually moved. The first page was a [Lovax]. It was grazing with several of its kind, and after a few seconds, it showed the thing roll into a ball, both for a defensive maneuver as well as rapid movement over large flat open areas. The page next to it had a large list of stats, known skills, habits, and every other tidbit of information you might want to know. Trillia gently closed the book, her inner curiosity waging a mighty war within. Did she look ahead at all the cool things her brother had no doubt discovered or save those surprises for herself.

"This is a very cool book. Is that all from the nature classes you've taken? The moving pictures and all?"

Tormash nodded. When Trillia finally won the war of curiosity, he took the book back, placing it in its pouch on his side.

"That's correct. If I am recording anything about nature or the creatures that live in it, I can get extremely detailed information. Any drawing I write utilizes my mana to become something more. If you are ever tasked with fighting a dangerous creature, and you don't mind the surprise being ruined. Let me know. I may have an entry on it."

Trillia was happy that Tormash seemed to know exactly why she hadn't looked at more creatures. Though, it was a bit odd that the lovax was first.

"Why is the lovax the first entry? Cause you saw it first?"

Tormash shook his head at that.

"No, when I took the class, I was out scouting. This was back when I was eleven or twelve. I didn't fully understand the skills. It let me get a lot of extra information on our enemies, which was nice. Once I got back to camp, I took a few days to study the lovax. The class filled me with an urge to write and record what I was seeing. That's when I started the book."

Trillia smiled and nodded at that. Another class and skill she was interested in learning. So much to do, so little time in the day. Tormash, seemingly ready, motioned for her to follow him and Ba'Shoon.

"If you get overwhelmed or scared. Let us know ok? We're going to push you, both as training and to help you overcome the trauma of your first hunt."

Trillia took a deep breath and nodded. Running to catch up to him, she took his hand as he led them to the training area he had prepared.